I had some Hek deathfish (you know, the one that kills you if not properly cooked) for lunch today and a somewhat related question came to mind.

With all the mind-machine interfacing going on, lots of people go full virtual when it comes to entertainment. Any entertainment - one can just zap their pleasure centers, or dive into a gas giant, or fight and make bets wth people all across the cluster, or go sightseeing and sample the finest foods - while really they just float there with those jacks in the spine and brain. Many prefer refined simulation to the raw real thing. I suspect that most eggers are firmly in the virtual league, but it never hurts to actually go out and ask, right?

Most who have read my posts here will know that I prefer the Real for entertainment purposes. I find it keeps me human, as opposed to spending my days with my body shut off in a sensory deprivation pod, and my mind thinking my arms are turrets and my legs are thrusters.

Real. We spend enough of our lives hooked into something that maybe kind of erodes the sense of self, to start with. I’d rather spend my spare time doing things that are more, well, “human.”

I particularly like exploring new places on foot. It’s been a while since I got to do this very much, but, just me, a backpack, and an unfamiliar city or bit of countryside to wander is kind of a favorite thing.

What even is reality? Ever wonder if you’re actually the avatar of a barely attractive 30-something in a game, trying to escape from reality and the utter meaningless existence that is life? Maybe this sick, twisted, game of lies, death and betrayal we live is just an outlet for our puppeteer’s dark fantasy and dreams of power and glory… or maybe I need to lay off the chems for a bit.

Entertainment is best virtually. That said, it is a joy, when I can, to conduct business without the “enhancement” of any kind of interface. The “lesser” members of my company, people with no interest in capsuleering, would probably abandon their posts and cease looking after my assetts if they could never see me. Spending time in reality is important to keep perspective. Though our lives may be greatly enhanced by our particular talents and choices, our actions affect countless members of the community whose lives are finite.

But for entertainment, I find it much more fun to be able to change the perspective to whatever would like it to be.

What even is reality? Ever wonder if you’re actually the avatar of a barely attractive 30-something in a game, trying to escape from reality and the utter meaningless existence that is life? Maybe this sick, twisted, game of lies, death and betrayal we live is just an outlet for our puppeteer’s dark fantasy and dreams of power and glory… or maybe I need to lay off the chems for a bit.

I played some hologames back in RMS and they all had one in common. The player is a big boss or a hero. Dunno how about you, but I am not. I’m not even a real villain, i’m just like a background NPC that stands in a bar to show that it’s the exhaust end of lowsec. No human being would willingly endure playing through the trainwreck of crap that was my life.

If we’re living in a game, then most of us just a bunch of NPCs saying their lines or red markers to be shot at, and the player is somewhere out there. I wonder who he is. The Broker? Istvaan Shogaatsu? Some no-name Caldari hotshot cheating through his Black Rise campaign of the Squadron Commander?

Or, perhaps, it’s Nauplius? Just imagine, that we’re living background to his game of Dungeon Overlord and the slave sacrifices give him mana or piety points or whatever?

It is not possible to wear the cilice when in the pod, and so proper rituals of penitence may only be experienced in the real world. In the same vein, it requires the sacred space of a cathedral or abbey to fully appreciate and be uplifted by worshipful plainsong.

However, it may be stretching the meaning of the word to claim these as ‘entertainment’, whereas I might use the term ‘recreation’ in its deeper sense.

One enjoys the testing of one’s physical being too, through mountaineering or fell running, neither of which are as exhilarating if done in a simulator.

I agree with most people in this thread but there are some things that you simply can’t or shouldn’t experience in real life. I love to watch VR horror movies sometimes… but I don’t think I would enjoy actually having to run from real life versions of “The Creature from Black Rise” or the mutant from “An Amarrian Werewolf in Luminaire”.

Virtual. It is less tainted by outside interference and is subjective to the user. It feels more personal and worthwhile when it is not subject to the influencing criticism of others. There is nothing more disappointing in enjoying a good story, only to have it ruined by someone’s complaints. In fact, just the other day I watched a holoreel that I have come to love. The associate I was viewing it with did not like the slower pacing and made it a point to ensure that I was well aware of it with his constant, loud yammering.

Depends entirely the type of entertainment, and I would make a distinction between recreation and entertainment. Entertainment I prefer usually as virtual - meaning, games, films, music. You haven’t lived if you haven’t experienced Rauserschnaut’s psychogrunge in the full 6 sensation experience. Just my opinion, obviously.

Recreation, like hiking, swimming, photography and the like are best experienced in reality. Capsuleers spend so much time in virtual environments (the capsule interface and neocom, afterall are virtual environments while our body is nonfunctional in the pod) that it is good to remind oneself of what it’s like to be one of the, uh, “average folk”. Gives you a sense of humility and perspective.
Of course, if you feel otherwise, you’re free to do so.